 |
Scholastic Projects Offer Opportunities For Educational Exploration By ZULEMA QUINTÁNS
What do overachieving Juilliard students choose to do in their senior year, when they are already functioning at maximum capacity? Create more work for themselves by taking on the Scholastic Distinction program. This fourth-year undergraduate honors research project allows students to devote their undivided attention to the study of a topic of particular interest to them, with the support of a Juilliard faculty advisor and a committee of faculty representatives. Eligible dance and music students, selected in a review of performance and academic grades, are invited to apply in their third year; eligible drama students apply in their second year. Students who are selected proceed at their own risk, because the project itself demands a lot of time and attention. However, let me not mislead you; while the workload is largely of our own making, we are in no way masochists, since the Scholastic Distinction project is ultimately a lot of fun. Those who successfully complete the program receive fourth-year undergraduate credit (often in lieu of another requirement or elective), and the citation "With Scholastic Distinction" on their transcript and diploma.
 |
For overachieving students,
the Scholastic Distinction program offers challenges,
breakthroughs …
and (yes) fun.
|
|
|
In the past two years, there have been few applicants and no completed projects. This year, however, there has been a dramatic increase in interest in the program, with nine participants (selected from a pool of 15 applicants) including dance, jazz, piano, and viola students. Bärli Nugent, assistant dean and administrator of the Scholastic Distinction program, remarks: "It has been a delight and a privilege to witness each participant's intellectual breakthroughs and inventive explorations." The year's work culminates in a written paper; this year's projects range from an analysis of music theory pedagogy, to the difference between jazz and classical music, to comparisons between film directors and dance choreographers. Students involved in this year's program are Greg Anderson, piano ("Art and Evolution of Piano Recital Programming"); Jubal Battisti, dance ("Sculpture Through the Eyes of a Dancer"); Edward Klorman, viola ("Pedagogical Approaches in Music Theory"); Julianne Marie, viola ("Using Locus of Control and Motivation Theories in One-on-One Music Pedagogy"); Zulema Quintáns, dance ("A Dancer's Ability to Perceive Time and Reproduce It Through Movement"); Elizabeth Roe, piano ("The Mercurial Face of Music in Literature"); Kathryn Sydell, dance ("Affecting Their Audience: How Film Directors and Dance Choreographers Direct the Focus of the Audience With Similar Techniques"); Vasileios Varvaresos, piano ("Departure from the Functionality of Syntax"); and Erica vonKleist, jazz ("A Study of the Similarities and Differences Between Classical and Jazz Music, As They Pertain to the Four Elements of Music: Harmony, Melody, Form, and Rhythm").The students have been working diligently with their advisors to reach a first draft that was handed in at the end of January. Most of the applicants have only seen each other in passing—on the way to classes or while they are waiting on the second-floor couches for their meeting with the committee. For the first time in a long process, I met with several of my fellow participants to see what they were doing.The students I met with—Greg Anderson, Edward Klorman, and Erica vonKleist—had one thing in common, beside their cheerfulness and enthusiasm in general: They were all intrigued by a burning question they were attempting to answer in their research. In many cases, the project was the result of the student's desire to supplement his or her knowledge in a particular area that was adumbrated by an experience in one of their classes. Erica was already intrigued with her question during her first year at Juilliard in her Elements of Music class, where she was introduced to the notion of similarities between classical and jazz music. Ed had a similar start to his project, in that his interest was sparked by his experiences as a teaching fellow over the past two years in the Literature and Materials of Music department. In his analysis of music pedagogical styles, he integrates his own experiences with those of six of the leading music theory teachers from across the nation (including two here at Juilliard), ultimately proposing lesson plans that he has used in his own classes that relate musical analysis more closely to performance practices. As a pianist, Greg has always been fascinated with the vast piano repertoire and what factors are involved in designing a successful piano recital. Through an enormous amount of research here at Juilliard and at the Carnegie Hall archives, he has examined the history of the piano repertoire and piano recital programming in the last 165 years.Perhaps the most exciting part of our projects is being able to explore topics outside of our classes here at Juilliard. Each student traveled a unique path in researching his or her topic. For my project, I worked with a dance faculty advisor here at Juilliard, Irene Dowd, as well as a professor of neurology at Columbia University, and was able to use movement studies developed in neurology clinics to analyze the ability of dancers and musicians to learn tempos and keep time in the absence of external cues.The Scholastic Distinction Program guidelines state that "participants are encouraged to pursue a specific question, problem, or artistic issue, and document their conclusions with a written paper that is a product of their own discovery and thinking." They forgot to add the notation, "The sky's the limit." In this case, it is—and well worth the effort.Zulema Quintáns is a fourth-year dance student.
|
